Books of the Month for December 2017

Discover the Books of the Month for December – there’s something for everyone!

MODERN FICTIONLincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders

The extraordinary first novel by the bestselling, Folio Prize-winning, National Book Award-shortlisted master of the short story, George Saunders, about Abraham Lincoln and the death of his eleven-year-old son, Willie, at the dawn of the Civil War. Unfolding over a single night, Lincoln in the Bardo is written with George Saunders' inimitable humour, pathos and grace. Man Booker Prize winner 2017!

Join our Modern Fiction reading group and discuss this book, in Uppsala on Dec 14th and in Stockholm Dec 19th. Sign up in the bookshop.

CLASSICSSo Long, See You Tomorrow – William Maxwell

On an Illinois farm in the 1920s, a man is murdered, and in the same moment the tenous friendship between two lonely boys comes to an end. In telling their interconnected stories, American Book Award winner William delivers a masterfully restrained and magically evocative meditation on the past. A small, perfect novel.

Why not join our Classics reading group and discuss this book? Sign up at the bookshop. Meetings in Uppsala Dec 13th and Stockholm Dec 21st.

SHORT STORIESA Snow Garden and other stories – Rachel Joyce

As read on Radio 4, seven linked stories set in the Christmas holidays – all as funny, joyous, poignant and memorable as Christmas should be: A Faraway Smell of Lemon / The Marriage Manual / Christmas at the Airport / The Boxing Day Ball / A Snow Garden / I'll Be Home for Christmas / Trees.

”There is darkness even within the most beautiful of landscapes, and Lara Dearman writes on this with stunning effect in her debut page-turner The Devil's Claw. Set in Guernsey and steeped in island folklore, this novel explores a fifty-year-old mystery, and marks the arrival of a fantastic new talent.” – Fiona Cummins, author of Rattle

Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, the elderly are being mugged, children go missing. But word has spread: if you've got a case the police can’t – or won’t – touch, Isaiah Quintabe will help you out.

They call him IQ. He’s a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence. His clients pay him whatever they can afford, a new set of tyres or some homemade muffins. But now he needs a client who can pay.

One of the seminal works of the cyberpunk genre, and one of the earliest stories to present the concept of cyberspace.

”Disaffected computer wizard ’Mr. Slippery’ (True Name Roger Pollack) is an early adopter of a new full-immersion virtual reality technology called the Other Plane. He and the other wizards form a cabal to keep their true identities — their True Names — secret to avoid prosecution by their ’Great Adversary’ – the government of the United States.”

We’ll discuss this book in our Sci-Fi reading group in Uppsala on Dec 12th and in Stockholm on Dec 6th. Sign up at the bookshop.

FANTASYThe Bear and the Nightingale – Katherine Arden

”Frost-demons have no interest in mortal girls wed to mortal men. In the stories, they only come for the wild maiden.”

In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church.

But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods... A stunning, magical fairy tale for adults.

There’s an underground black market for arcane things. Akin to the trade in rhino horns or tigers’ bones, this network traffics in remains of gryphons, faeries, goblins, and other fantastic creatures.When her fiance Vince goes missing Angela Gough, an American criminology student, discovers that he was a part of this secretive trade. She then discovers that some of these objects aren’t as ancient as they seem. Some of them are fresh…

Despite sending him letters ever since she was thirteen, Taliah Abdallat never thought she'd ever really meet Julian Oliver. But one day, while her mother is out of the country, the famed rock star from Staring Into the Abyss shows up on her doorstep. This makes sense – kinda – because it turns out Julian Oliver is Taliah’s father…

The writer and satirist Teffi was a literary sensation in Russia until war and revolution forced her to leave her country for ever. Memories is a blackly funny and heartbreaking account of her final, frantic journey into exile across Russia – travelling by cart, freight train and rickety steamer – and the ’ordinary and unheroic’ people she encounters.

Fusing exuberant wit and bitter horror, this is an extraordinary portrayal of what it means to say goodbye, and confirms Teffi as one of the most humane, perceptive observers of her times, and an essential writer for ours.

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General Fiction Book of the Month – March 2018

What We Lose is a short, intense and profoundly moving debut novel about race, identity, sex and death – from one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35.
Thandi is a black woman, but often mistaken for Hispanic or Asian. She is American, but doesn’t feel as American as some of her friends. She is South African, but doesn’t belong in South Africa either.
And her mother is dying...Subscribe to the book-of-the-month!

Mystery Book of the Month – March 2018

A smart, twisty crime novel filled with compelling characters set in a world that book-lovers will adore. This debut is a page-turner featuring a heroine bookseller who solves a cold case with clues from books — what is not to love?
(We'll discuss this book at the pub in our Book&Pint discussion on March 27th. Get your book & ticket at the bookshop if you want to join in!) » Read moreSubscribe to the book-of-the-month!